I see these terms interchanged and misused frequently, so I figured I'd take a minute to explain.
When it comes to glitter, glequins and sequins, they fall into each category depending on their size.
Sequins (see an example
here) are large pieces with a small hole in the center, mostly used for crafts and in fashion. They are, in my opinion, way too big to be used in nail art.
Glitter, on the other hand, is just that: teeny pieces, usually in a dust or powder form, that would be impossible to apply individually.
Which brings us to glequins. Glequin is just a made-up word that we in the nail world use to combine the two previous. Glequins are roughly 1-2mm in diameter and come in different shapes from hexes, to squares and diamonds, to circles, and even hearts, stars, and music notes, etc. They typically come in a little pot or jar and are individually adhered to the nail with clear polish. See examples of glequins
here and
here and
here.
Want to see some glitter placement manis I have done just playing around with glequins (which I prefer to call "glitters" or "loose glitters")?
